Friday, January 31, 2014

A cycle shop, Spokes
And Saddles, is mentioned in my book, Racing
Start. I had to dream up that name when the book was written in the late
1980s. A few years later we used the name when we opened our own cycle shop –
and this is where the Giggle part of the blog comes in. We had a silly
competition to see who would be Salesperson
of the Month. The guys always seemed to win because customers preferred to
buy a bike from a bloke. However, one month…

Every Saturday a special needs lad would come into the
shop and ask about prices. Every Saturday I would write down the prices of
bikes, saddlebags, bells, pumps, puncture repair kits etc for him. His dream
was to, one day, own a bike. One day when he came in and we were going through
the prices, again, I told him about a very special offer we had on some Muddy
Fox pumps. I wrote down the price on his list and watched as he reached into
his pocket and came out with the cash. He wanted a pump and he hadn’t got a
bike!

I tried to tell him to save his money for a bike but
he insisted so I had to sell him a pump. He went out of our shop delighted. And
I received the award of Salesperson of
The Month. I think it was given me because I felt bad about letting this
boy spend his money on something useless so imagine my joy when a girl with
problems came in and asked if someone could ‘punch’ her tyres up for her
because she didn’t have a pump.

One boy with a pump and no bike. One girl with a bike
and no pump. How I itched to bring them together. Sadly, Dear Reader, I never
managed it.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Once upon a time, way back in
the days of typewriters, I decided to write a book about cycling. I had seen a
whole series of books for pre-teens called Sports Fiction. There were books on football
(obviously), tennis, swimming, cricket… all sorts of sport. Only cycling was
missing. I wrote to the publishers, Blackie & Son Ltd, offering to fill the
gap. At this early stage of my writing career I’d never produced anything more
than a thousand words. My letter was posted and I forgot all about it until,
one afternoon, I received a phone call asking how I was getting on with my
book. It was Blackie calling. I lied to them saying it was half done. They
asked to see it. Panic! I lied some more.

‘It’s typed on the back of old letters and bills,’ I
said, and then to make things worse, added, ‘and it’s in red ink.’ Remember
those typewriter ribbons with black at the top and red at the bottom?

They agreed that I could send them the book when it was finished but warned that this was not an offer. If another book on cycling arrived before mine they'd consider that too.
I put down the phone and started to write it. Six weeks later I posted it to
them.

A year after that I received an acceptance letter. The
book would be published in two year’s time. There was very little re-writing to
be done, they said. I forgot about it and carried on writing short stories and
articles for women’s magazines.

A few months before publication date another letter
arrived requesting my presence, with manuscript, at Blackie’s offices. I bought
a new outfit and shoes and set off, spending the entire day with an editor,
working through my script, page by page. Then it was back home to do that ‘very
little rewriting’.

In 1991 the book appeared. It even sold reasonably well
but I was ahead of time. Cycling wasn’t the popular sport it is today. Because
it is now so popular I decided to completely update the book, Racing Start, and
have it produced as an e-book. So, after
nearly a quarter of a century it’s once again available. It’s themes are
cycling, naturally, and bullying.

If you know a child who loves cycling and dreams of racing.
If you want to know how a young person can get into the sport.
If you are any of the above and want a good story to go along with all the facts then this is the book for you.

About Me

Why invisible granddaughter? Because I have not yet met my 18 year old granddaughter. This is not a suitable place to go into details but now she is old enough we are in contact. And this blog is for her so that she can join us in our adventures.
Why Sid? That's the name of the motorhome. It's an Elddis which is Siddle spelled backwards hence Sid for short.
Friends complain that their address books are filled with my addresses. I like moving house. Ten years ago I found the perfect solution for this need to be in new places. The Long Suffering One and I bought a motorhome with some of my winnings from being on Deal Or No Deal. Four years later we sold it but we now have another one and are on the move again. In a house I'll wake each morning and ask the LSO, 'What day is it?' Now I can ask, 'What day is it?' And 'Where are we?'